The only home Ike and Mamie ever owned — a working cattle farm that doubled as a Cold War back channel.
Photo: Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Dwight Eisenhower spent his life in government housing. Army posts, a wartime headquarters in England, the president's house at Columbia, SHAPE in Paris, the White House. In 1950 he and Mamie finally bought a place of their own: a run-down 189-acre farm on the western edge of the Gettysburg battlefield, ground he had first known in 1918 when he commanded the Army's tank training camp on the same fields. It was the only home the two of them ever owned, and they lived out their retirement in it.
The original farmhouse turned out to be too far gone to save, so between 1953 and 1955 it was substantially rebuilt around a surviving section of the old structure. What stands today is a comfortable, unpretentious 1950s house that has never been staged for effect — Mamie's pink-and-green sitting room, Ike's glassed-in porch where he painted, the television he watched the news on. Roughly 98 percent of the furnishings are the Eisenhowers' own. Outside, the farm was a genuine operation, not a prop: a show herd of black Angus cattle that Eisenhower took seriously enough to be proud of, plus a putting green Ike wore into the lawn and a skeet range with a long view toward South Mountain.
The farm's other job was diplomatic. Eisenhower discovered that walking a foreign head of state past a barn full of cattle got him further than a conference table ever did. Winston Churchill came in May 1959, Charles de Gaulle in April 1960, Nehru, Adenauer, Montgomery and the last king and queen of Afghanistan at other times. On September 29, 1959, Nikita Khrushchev came, toured the herd, met the Eisenhower grandchildren, and went home with an Angus from it as a gift. Eisenhower also spent 38 days recuperating here after his 1955 heart attack, running the executive branch from a farmhouse in Adams County. The Eisenhowers donated the property to the National Park Service in 1967 and retained the right to live there; it opened to the public in 1980.
A 1955 rebuild wrapped around the bones of an older farmhouse, and almost entirely furnished with the Eisenhowers' own things. Mamie's sitting room, the formal living room kept for visiting heads of state, and the glassed-in porch where Ike painted and took his meals are the rooms people remember.
Insider tipTours are first come, first served and free — no ticket needed for individuals and small groups. Check in at the visitor contact station on arrival to hold a spot, and go earlier in the day if the schedule is tight.
Plan a trip to this spot →The 1887 bank barn, the cinderblock milk house the Secret Service used as an office, and the garage holding original vehicles including a 1955 Crown Imperial limousine. A short walk on is the neighboring W. Alton Jones property, now part of the park, where Eisenhower kept the black Angus show herd he was genuinely proud of — Khrushchev was walked through it in 1959. The land is still farmed under a lease that requires the same crops, the same soil practices, and Angus cattle in the fields.
Insider tipWhich outbuildings are open varies with seasonal staffing — the garage doors in particular only come open on days the park can staff them. If a specific barn matters to you, call ahead.
Plan a trip to this spot →The small domestic details are what make the place land. Ike's putting green sat right off the house. His skeet range looks out toward South Mountain. The teahouse and gardens round out an ordinary retiree's backyard that happened to host the leader of the Soviet Union.
Insider tipThe grounds are self-guided and free, open sunrise to sunset even outside home tour season. The NPS app carries a guided walking tour if you arrive on a closed day.
The farm shares a boundary with Gettysburg National Military Park, and Eisenhower chose it partly for that. He first came to this ground in 1918 as a young officer commanding Camp Colt, the Army's tank training camp, laid out across the same fields where Pickett's Charge crossed.
Insider tipMost visitors do both in one day. Start at the Gettysburg Museum & Visitor Center for the battle, then drive over to the farm — the two together make a genuinely good full day rather than two rushed halves. Passport stamps for both parks live at that visitor center's information desk, not at the farm.
Plan a trip to this spot →One entrance off Emmitsburg Road — free, and you drive yourself in.
Use 250 Eisenhower Farm Rd, Gettysburg, PA for GPS — not the mailing address — and come in from the main entrance on Emmitsburg Road. Individual passenger vehicles drive directly to the site and park on-site; spaces are limited. RVs, trailers, and buses are not permitted without prior approval, because the farm roads have tight turns and narrow openings that were never built for them — call the park to arrange. Groups of 10 or more must book at least two weeks ahead and are toured outside public tour hours; commercial buses over 40 feet cannot navigate the site at all, so those groups carpool or hire their own transport. Accessible parking is the paved area by the big bank barn, signed from the entrance, and the accessible restrooms are in the barn's lower level, open Friday to Sunday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Nothing on-site — base in Gettysburg, four miles away.
The obvious base and effectively the only one you need. A compact historic town with a wide range of motels, inns, and bed-and-breakfasts, plus a walkable downtown of cafes and family restaurants. Everything at the battlefield and the farm is within ten minutes.
Booking tipBooks out well ahead for the July anniversary of the battle and for fall foliage weekends.
Twenty-five to thirty minutes out in either direction, with chain lodging along the highway corridors and lower rates than Gettysburg proper.
Booking tipThe practical fallback when Gettysburg is full.
Both about an hour away, both real cities with full lodging and dining and easy interstate access. Reasonable if the farm is one stop on a longer regional route.
Booking tipFrederick puts you within striking distance of Antietam and Harpers Ferry the next morning.
Do I have to take a shuttle bus from the Gettysburg visitor center?
No. You drive straight to the farm and park on-site — the park's own wording is that it's easier than ever. The old shuttle from the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center is no longer part of how you get in, and nps.gov/eise no longer mentions one at all, but a lot of older guidance still describes it as the only way. The on-site lot is small and is for passenger vehicles only. RVs, trailers, and buses need prior approval, and commercial buses over 40 feet can't make the turns; groups with one carpool or arrange their own transport.
Is there a fee, and do I need a ticket for the house?
There is no entrance fee and no pass is required. Home tours are also free and, for individuals and small groups, first come first served with no advance ticket — check in at the on-site visitor contact station when you arrive. Groups of 10 or more need a reservation at least two weeks ahead.
Is the house open year-round?
No. The grounds are open daily sunrise to sunset all year, but home tours run on a seasonal schedule — in 2026, May 28 through October 26, Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with last entry at 3. Dates change from year to year, so confirm before you plan around it.
How long should I allow?
The park says most people spend one to two hours. Give it closer to two and a half if you want the home tour plus a proper walk through the barns, gardens, putting green, and skeet range. Add it to a Gettysburg battlefield day rather than making a separate trip of it.
Is it worth it if the house is closed?
Yes, though it is a different visit. The grounds, farm complex, and views are self-guided and open daily, and the NPS app carries a guided walking tour with interpretation. You just miss the interiors, which are the strongest part.
What actually happened here during the Cold War?
Eisenhower used the farm as an informal setting for foreign leaders — Churchill in May 1959, de Gaulle in April 1960, Nehru, Adenauer, Macmillan, and most famously Nikita Khrushchev on September 29, 1959, who toured the Angus herd, met the Eisenhower grandchildren, and went home with an Angus of his own. Eisenhower also ran the presidency from here for 38 days while recovering from his 1955 heart attack.
Is it good for kids?
Yes. There is a Junior Ranger booklet for ages 6-12 with a badge at the end, the farm animals and open ground give younger kids somewhere to be, and the house reads as a home rather than a museum. Dogs are welcome outdoors too, on a leash no longer than six feet — not inside any building, and never into the cattle pastures.
Pick your vehicle, line up the stops on the way in and out, and carry the whole route in your pocket.
